First Hawaiian Bank has record earnings

First Hawaiian Bank's earnings soared 24.6 percent to a record $45 million in the third quarter as assets and deposits both showed double-digit increases, the bank reported yesterday.

The bank, a sister of San Francisco-based Bank of the West and a subsidiary of Honolulu-based BancWest Corp., also had an 11 percent jump in revenue to $134.2 million from net interest income and noninterest income. Net interest income reflects the difference between what First Hawaiian pays depositors and what it brings in from loans, while noninterest income includes revenue from service charges and fees.

"A combination of a strong economy and an exceptional group of employees made this the most profitable quarter in our history," said Don Horner, president and chief executive of First Hawaiian.

First Hawaiian, the state's oldest bank, increased its assets to $11.3 billion, up 11.4 percent from a year earlier. Deposits rose 11.5 percent to $8.3 billion. Loans and leases gained 9.9 percent to $5.8 billion.

For the first nine months of the year, First Hawaiian's net income rose 16.9 percent to $124.9 million from the same period a year ago.

BancWest, scheduled to close its $1.36 billion acquisition of Omaha, Neb.-based Commercial Federal Corp. in December, following the merger will have more than $64 billion in assets and serve more than 4 million customers accounts through 737 locations in 20 states.

First Hawaiian has 56 branches in Hawaii, three on Guam and two on Saipan.

French investment giant BNP Paribas is the parent company of BancWest.